Zarif: World powers kept silent on Sardasht chemical bombing

Iran’s FM Zarif in a message on the occasion of 30th anniversary of chemical attack on Iranian city of Sardasht, voiced regret over hypocrisy of world powers for having refused to condemn the bombing.

Iran marked on Thursday the 30th anniversary of the chemical bombardment of the city of Sardasht in the northwest of the country by former Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein during the Iraqi-imposed war on Iran. Sardasht is the 3rd city after Hiroshima and Nagasaki which became the target of weapons of mass destruction, which left over 100 people dead and thousands of others severely injured.

In a message on this occasion, Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif censured ‘so-called defenders of human rights’ for their silence and complicity in the unequal and imposed war on the Iranian nation perpetrated by Saddam regime with direct financial, military and logistical backing from regional and trans-regional countries.

“In the chemical bombing of defenseless civilians of Sardasht, hundreds of men, women and children were cruelly martyred and none of the world powers uttered a word of regret, condemnation or any decisive measure opposing the attack,” Zarif said in his message.

He went on to add, “those currently drawing up a secretive and dangerous scenario about the use of chemical weapons in Syria are the ones who not only ignored the use of weapons of mass destruction on the Iranian nation, but were themselves complicit in arming and supporting Saddam’s criminal regime.”

“Unlike the mercenary policies and double standards of so-called defenders of human rights, including the United States, the Islamic Republic of Iran strongly condemns the use or threats of using weapons of mass destruction such as chemical weapons, as well as using this as a tactic for creating the ground to carry out illegal measures against independent nations and governments,” Zarif stressed.